Electric linear motor

ABSTRACT

The invention refers to an electric linear motor comprising at least one linear stator designed to be located in a fixed correlation to an environment, particularly building, and at least one mover designed for connection with an element to be moved and co-acting with the stator, 
     which motor comprises a stator beam supporting said at least one stator, which stator beam has at least one side face carrying ferromagnetic poles of said stator spaced apart by a pitch, and which mover comprises at least one counter-face facing said side face(s) of the stator beam, in which counter-face electro-magnetic components of the mover are located.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional of co-pending application Ser. No.15/838,018, filed on Dec. 11, 2017, which is a Continuation of PCTInternational Application No. PCT/EP2016/064259, filed on Jun. 21, 2016,which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) to Patent Application No.PCT/EP2015/064535, filed in Europe on Jun. 26, 2015, all of which arehereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an electric linear motor having alinear stator extending along an environment, e.g. an elevator shaft ina building or long the path of an escalator, moving sidewalk or movingramp. The motor carries a mover which comprises the rotor components ofthe electric motor as e.g. windings and/or permanent magnets. Thus, themover moving along with an element to be moved and the linear statormounted along the environment form a linear motor. Such kind of motorsare per se known. A disadvantage of these motors is caused by the factthat the linear stator comprising windings and/or permanent magnets arequite expensive, particularly if higher elevator shafts are consideredwith a length of e.g. 50 m or more. Furthermore, the weight of such alinear stator adds up considerably when used already for a mid-riseelevator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore object of the present invention to provide an electriclinear motor which is comparably cheap to manufacture and which isadapted also for long movement paths.

This object is solved with an electric linear motor according to claim1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject-matter of thedependent claims. Embodiments of the invention are also shown in thedescription and in the drawings. The inventive content may also consistof several separate inventions, especially if the invention isconsidered in the light of explicit or implicit subtasks or with respectto advantages achieved. In this case, some of the attributes containedin the claims below may be superfluous from the point of view ofseparate inventive concepts. The features of different embodiments ofthe invention can be applied in connection with other embodiments withinthe scope of the basic inventive concept.

According to the invention, the electric linear motor comprises at leastone linear stator designed to be located in a fixed correlation to anenvironment, particularly in a building. Further the motor comprises atleast one mover designed for connection with an element to be moved andco-acting for movement along the stator. The motor comprises a statorbeam extending in the longitudinal direction of the stator supportingsaid at least one stator, which stator beam has at least one side facecarrying ferromagnetic poles of said stator spaced apart by a pitch (d),and which mover comprises at least one counter-face facing said sideface(s) of the stator beam, in which counter-face electro-magneticcomponents of the mover are located, as e.g. mover irons, windings andpermanent magnets are located.

The advantage of the present invention is therefore that the linearstator only needs ferromagnetic poles which can be for example statorteeth formed in a side face of a stator rod made of ferromagneticmaterial, for example made of iron or an iron-containing alloy. Via thismeans, the stator beam supporting the linear stator can be made morelightweight and can thus be used e.g. for high elevators, particularlyfor elevators with a height of more than 50 m, preferably of more than100 m. This linear motor concept is therefore adapted for any high-riseapplications as this solution does not need any elevator ropes which arean obstacle in the design of high-rise elevators because of thecorrelated weight. Of course the linear motor can also be used for otherapplications with long movement tracks as e.g. escalators, movingsidewalks and moving ramps. Preferably, the stator beam comprises asupport structure for at least two stators and at least one fasteningelement to fix the support structure to the elevator shaft. Theadvantage of this construction is that the motor force can be doubled upas the stator beam now comprises two stators and a correspondinglylarger force generating surface of the linear motor.

Preferably, the stator beam in the environment, e.g. elevator shaft andthe mover of the element, e.g. elevator car form guide means for thetravel of the element to be moved in the environment. Usually anelevator car is guided with guide rollers along guide rails extendingvertically in the elevator shaft. This common technology canadvantageously been omitted if the stator beam of the linear motoritself together with the mover form the guide means for the element withrespect to the stator beam. This can be done e.g. in one alternative byproviding guide faces on the stator beam which co-act with correspondingguide means (e.g. rollers) at the mover or element to be moved which isconnected with the mover. Preferably the guide means is provided by thestator poles and the electro-magnetic components of the linear motor.This provides a kind of magnetic guide similar to a magnetic monorail asknown in high-velocity trains.

Thus, most preferably the ferromagnetic stator poles of the stator beamand the electro-magnetic components of the mover form a magnetic bearingfor the guide and suspension of the element to be moved.

Preferably the movers are centralized around the respective statorsbeams by means of the magnetic bearing formed by the stators and theelectro-magnetic components of the mover(s). The windings of the moverare controlled such that air gap is maintained between stator side facesand the mover counter-faces. By this means the stator beam and moverform the combined drive as well as the guide of the element to be moved,e.g. elevator car in the environment, e.g. elevator shaft. Thus theelement is free from separate guide means as guide rollers or guidesurfaces co-acting with any kind of guide rails to be used in connectionwith the linear stator.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the mover has separatemagnetic bearing coils 80 which are controlled independent ofelectro-magnetic mover components of the linear motor. The purpose ofthe separate magnetic bearing coils 80 is only, to regulate the air gapof the linear motor. The magnetic bearing coils 80 of the mover co-actwith the linear stator, preferably with the stator iron, to correct anydeviations in length/thickness of the air gap. Preferably they aredisposed as an extension to the mover, above and below theelectro-magnetic mover components, i.e. the linear motor coils/magnets.

Preferably, the two stators are located at opposite sides of the statorbeam so that horizontal forces between the stator beam and the mover areeliminated or at least essentially reduced.

In the most preferred embodiment of the invention, the movers arecentralized around the respective stators by means of a magneticbearing, which can e.g. be formed by the electro-magnetic components ofthe stator and mover of the linear motor. Via said magnetic bearing aconstant air gap is maintained between stator and mover counterfaces.

In an embodiment of the invention, the stator beam may also compriseguide surfaces for guide rollers located at the mover(s).

Preferably, the elevator motor of the invention is a flux-switchingpermanent magnet motor which is for example shown in US 2013/0249324 A1.Such a motor is cost-effective, provides high thrust and can operatewell even under fault conditions.

Preferably, the stator beam has at least two side faces with statorpoles having the same pitch and wherein the pitch of the stator poles ofboth side faces is preferably in length direction of the stator mutuallyoffset, either by a half pitch, preferably, all 4 stators are offset by¼ pitch relative to each other. Via this embodiment, the cogging torqueof this 3-phase linear motor is reduced, so that the effectivity of themotor is better and the movement is smoother.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the stator beam has apolygonal cross-section and has several side faces carryingferromagnetic stator poles, which side faces are connected via corners.This solution offers the advantage that several stators can be locatedin connection with the stator beam which several stators are configuredto co-act with a corresponding number of counter-faces located in one orseveral movers connected with the elevator car. Via this means, thedrive force, i.e. power of the motor, can essentially be increasedwhereas horizontal forces can essentially be reduced.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the cross-section of thestator beam is preferably rectangular, particularly square. In thiscase, four side faces are obtained carrying ferromagnetic stator poles,whereby the stators of the opposite side faces may have the same pitchas well as the same position of the stator poles whereas the side faceslocated rectangular to each other have the same pitch but are offset inlength direction of the stator preferably by a half pitch. With thisembodiment, the particularly horizontal faces perpendicular to the sidefaces are eliminated and on the other hand by the offset of the pitch ofthe rectangular side faces, the torque ripple of the elevator motor arereduced to a half so that the motor operates more effectively and runssmoother.

Preferably, the mover has a C-profile or U-Profile surrounding thestator beam. These profiles allow the easy surrounding of the statorbeam in a way that the counter-faces of the mover are oriented with asmall air gap opposite to the corresponding side faces of the statorbeam. On the other hand, the opening in the C- or U-profile isconfigured to adapt the fastening elements of the stator beam at theshaft wall or any construction fixed in the elevator shaft. In someembodiments, the mover takes short piece of stator beam, which remainsinside the mover when car moves to adjacent shaft.

The advantage of a U-profile is also that the U-profile can be detachedfrom the stator beam when moved horizontally in the direction of thebase member of the U-profile.

Preferably, the movers are configured for a rucksack suspension of theelement(s) with the guide rails and stator beams located on the shaftsides of the environment. This solution allows the releasing of themovers from the stator beams and of the guide rails by correspondingmechanisms. Preferably, the mover has on one side mountings for theelement, e.g. elevator car and on its counter side guide rollers facingthe stator beam(s). The guiding of the element can therefore be realizedvia an electro-magnetic guide field established between stator and moverand/or via conventional guide means, e.g. guide rollers or guide shoes,running along the stator beam(s).

In an embodiment of the invention the stator beam can be formed by thestator itself, e.g. by a stator rod. In one embodiment of the inventionthe stator beam can e.g. be formed by a square metal rod having teeth ontwo opposite sides.

Preferably, a conductor rail or bus bar is located along the length ofmoving path of the element to be moved. In this case the mover has atleast one contactor, preferably with contact rollers, connecting theconductor rail or bus bar. Conventionally, an elevator car is connectedvia car cables to an elevator control which car cables hang between theelevator car and a fixing part connected to the elevator shaft. As nowthe element to be moved, e.g. elevator car might able to be releasedform the stator (e.g. in an escalator when the pallets approach thereturn point to the return track), the connection of the mover to thestator beam might not be kept. Therefore, the connection via a bus baror conductor rail located along the movement path is preferable as onone hand, this connection is independent of the length of the path.

In a preferred embodiment the mover is held releasably to the stator sothat the linear motor can be used for applications (escalators, movingramps or multi-shaft (loop) elevators) where a connection between moverand stator cannot be upheld for the entire length of the travel of theelement to be moved.

Furthermore, the initiating and releasing of the electric connectionbetween the bus bar and the contactor of the elevator car is easy torealize based on the movement of the element away from the stator beam.Therefore, the bus bar is located preferably at the shaft side oppositeto side where the mover is removed from the stator beam. In this case,the connector of the mover is pressed against the bus bar or conductorrail located in connection with the environment or with the stator beam.Preferably, the contactor is supported on the mover or element via asupport element which comprises a spring means to bias the contactoragainst the conductor rail or bus bar which ensures a proper electriccontact during the travel of the element along the stator beam.

Preferably, the mover also has a power source as for example a batteryor an accumulator, which is preferably also configured as back-up powersource for the mover. The power back up is preferably designed for theelectro-magnetic power elements of the motor connected with the mover ase.g. windings or permanent magnets. Thus, with this power source, allelectric loads of the mover can be fed. These loads are in case of anelevator car also the lightings, ventilation, door drives and of any IOdevices of the elevator car as for example car display panels,loudspeakers, displays, etc. Furthermore, the power of a wireless dataconnection with any kind of conveyor control can be supplied with thepower source.

In this case, preferably the operation of the mover always runs via thepower source whereby the power source is loaded via the conductor railas long as the contactors of the mover are in contact with the conductorrail or bus bar. Via this means, it is ensured that the mover keepsworking in any case of power failure. The capacity of the power sourceis preferably sufficient to drive the mover to a predetermined locationin the traveling path, in case of an elevator e.g. to the next landingin the elevator shaft.

In an alternative preferred embodiment, the power supply from the shaftto mover is implemented with coupled coils principle, whereby a primarycoil being mounted to the environment or stator beam whereas a secondarycoil is moving with the car. When the mover arrives at a certainposition, primary and secondary are coupled and power is fed fromprimary to secondary to a battery mounted to the mover. The primary coilmay be located in every stopping floor.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the power source can belocated in the DC intermediate circuit of the frequency converterforming the electric drive of the mover.

The electric linear motor is preferably configured for any kind ofpassenger conveyor as e.g. elevator, escalator, moving ramp etc.

Preferably, at least two parallel stator beams are located in the (each)elevator shaft and at least two movers are located parallel to eachother and in a horizontal distance, whereby each of these movers co-actwith one of the stator beams. Via this arrangement, the driving force isdoubled up as now two movers are provided in parallel for the movementof the element, e.g. elevator car. Furthermore, the suspension of theelement is better balanced between the several stator beams.

Furthermore, preferably, the at least two movers located in successionwhich doubles up the moving force in connection with only one stator.

Preferably, the ferromagnetic poles of the stator are formed by teethprovided on a side face of a ferromagnetic stator rod, which teeth arespaced apart by teeth gaps. Such a ferromagnetic stator rod is forexample a rod comprised of iron or iron alloy to which the teethstructure has been milled in a side face of said rod, which teethstructure then forms a side face of the stator beam. Such a stator rodis easy to produce and can be easily supported in the stator beam of thepresent invention, eventually forming the stator beam.

The side face of the stator beam and the corresponding counter-face ofthe mover may be round or rounded. Thus, the stator beam may have acircular cross-section.

The stator beam may be connected via fastening elements to the elevatorshaft, which fastening elements are connected to at least one corner orto one side of the stator beam.

The stator poles may be stator teeth are embodied in a stator bar orrod. In this case the stator beam preferably comprises a supportstructure for at least two stator bars and fastening elements to fix thesupport structure.

The teeth gaps between the stator teeth are preferably filled with apolymer material to provide together with the teeth a smooth side faceof the stator beam, avoiding the accumulation of dirt.

The counter-face of the mover is preferably arranged in a recess orthrough-hole of the mover which recess or through-hole surrounds thestator beam in the horizontal cross-section at least partially.

A conveyor comprising the linear motor may have an emergency unitconfigured to control the mover to a predetermined location. This couldbe advantageous in elevators to release trapped passengers.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the stator(s) doesnot have any permanent magnets and as well as no magnetizing coils orwindings either.

Following expressions are used as a synonym: element-element to bemoved-elevator car; environment-elevator shaft-escalator track; statorpoles-stator teeth; windings-coils.

For the skilled person it is obvious that components mentioned inconnection with the present invention can be provided one one-fold ormulti-fold according to the needs. For example, one stator beam canco-act with three movers located above each other at the element to bemoved. Furthermore, two stator beams may be located at a wall of theenvironment or even more than two stator beams as e.g. three or fourstator beams.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is now described hereinafter with respect to the encloseddrawing. In this drawing

FIG. 1 shows a side view of an elevator shaft with a linear elevatormotor according to the invention comprising two parallel stator beams,

FIG. 2 shows a horizontal cross-section of the parts of the elevatormotor and the guide rails in the area between the elevator car and theshaft wall of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows a cross-section through a stator beam and a mover of FIG.4,

FIG. 4 shows a schematic drawing of the function of a switchingpermanent magnet motor (FSPM) used as the elevator motor,

FIG. 5 shows a side view of an elevator having two elevator shafts whichare connected at their upper and lower ends with horizontal passages,

FIG. 6 shows a horizontal cross-section of the connecting part betweenthe shaft wall and an elevator car at the mover position, having aU-profile mover and a contactor contacting a bus bar located at theelevator shaft wall,

FIG. 7 shows a horizontal cross-section of the connecting part betweenthe shaft wall and an elevator car at the car guide position, showing aguide element of the elevator car with two pivoted guide rollers whichguide element is running along guide surfaces of the stator beam of FIG.6,

FIG. 8 shows a schematic side view of an elevator system having twoelevator shafts which are connected with horizontal passages at eachelevator floor whereby the landing doors are located in the area of thehorizontal passages between each shaft, and

FIG. 9 shows a horizontal moving mechanism with shaft-side horizontalguide tracks and a car-side horizontal moving means comprising rollersco-acting with the horizontal guide tracks.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

It is emphasized that identical parts or parts with the samefunctionality are designated by the same reference numbers in allfigures.

FIG. 1 shows an elevator 10 comprising an elevator shaft 12 wherein anelevator car 16 moves up and down as an element to be moved. Theelevator 10 has a linear elevator motor 14. The linear elevator motor 14comprises stators 50 (see FIG. 3) located in a side face of a statorbeam 18 which is mounted with fastening elements 20 to a shaft wall 22of the elevator shaft 12. In this example the elevator 10 has twoparallel stator beams 18, which can be seen in FIG. 2.

The elevator car 16 comprises two movers 24, 26 located one above theother. The lower mover 24 is located in the lower half of the elevatorcar whereas the upper mover 26 is located in the upper half of theelevator car. These two movers 24, 26 comprise electro-magneticcomponents as e.g. irons, windings and permanent magnets 70, 71, 72, 74,76 (FIG. 4) which co-act with stator poles 52 located in the side facesof the stator beam 18, formed by stator teeth. Accordingly, the elevatorcar travels upwards and downwards via corresponding control of bothmovers 24, 26 co-acting with the stator beams 18.

Of course, the elevator car has a corresponding set of two movers 24, 26for each vertical stator beam 18 so that the elevator car 16 has intotal four movers, two lower movers 24 and two upper movers 26 to co-actwith two stator beams 18.

Of course, each stator beam 18 may have one or several stators 50 as itis shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Although it is preferred that the stator beams 18 and movers 24, 26 ofthe elevator 10 of FIG. 1 also form an electro-magnetic guide for theelevator car 16 so that any guide rollers and guide rails can beomitted, FIG. 2 shows in one embodiment optional car guides 32, 34 ofthe elevator car 16 co-acting with optional guide rails 28 runningvertically along the shaft wall 22 of FIG. 1. The shaft wall 22comprises two parallel guide rails 28, 30 co-acting with correspondingcar guides 32, 34. Each car guide 32, 34 has a set of guide rollersco-acting with the car guide rails 28, 30. As these car guides 32, 34 inconnection with the car guide rails 28, 30 are configured for a rucksacktype suspension, the corresponding guide system 28, 30, 32, 34 isconfigured to keep the car 16 horizontally in connection with the shaftwall 22 as these both car guide rails 28, 30 are the only guide rails ofthe elevator car 16 in the shaft 12. The vertical stator beams 18 aswell as the movers 24, 26 of the elevator car 16 are shown in moredetail in FIG. 3. Generally, guide rails with a round cross-section maybe used which are surrounded by rollers of the car guide, thereby fixingthe car horizontally in connection with the guide rail.

According to FIG. 3 the vertical stator beam 18 comprises a metalsupport structure 40 with a square cross-section. On each side thesupport structure 40 carries a metal stator rod 50 comprising statorteeth 52, which form the four side faces 42, 44, 46, 48 of the statorbeam 18. Each of these stator rods (or bars) 50 with the stator teeth 52forms a stator of the linear motor 14 so that the stator beam 18 shownin FIG. 3 comprises four stators. The stator teeth 52 co-act withwindings 74, 76 (FIG. 4) and mover irons 70,72 and permanent magnets 71located along counter-faces 54 in the four arms 56, 58, 60, 62 of theC-type profile of the mover 24, 26. This C-type profile of the moversurrounds the stator beam 18 but leaves an opening 64 for the adaptionof the fastening elements 20, as the mover 24, 26 travels along theshaft 12.

The stator rods 50 on all four side faces 42, 44, 46, 48 have the samepitch d. Anyway, the first and third side face 42, 46 of the stator beamalso have an identical teeth position in vertical direction whereas thesecond and fourth side face 44, 48 have the same pitch but the teethposition is vertically offset with respect to the stator teeth 52 on thefirst and third side face 42, 46 by a ¼ pitch.

Via this arrangement, it is ensured that on one hand, the horizontalforces between the stators 50 on opposite sides eliminate each otherwhereas the vertical offset of the pitches of the side faces orientedrectangular leads to a better efficiency and a smoother run of theelevator motor, as a moving step of such a motor 14 is a half pitch. Bythe fact that four stators 50 are located within the stator beam 18 theforce generated between the movers 24, 26 and the stator beam 18 ismultiplied by four, thereby achieving less horizontal ripples and asmoother movement of the movers 24, 26 with respect to the verticalstator beam 18.

FIG. 4 shows the operation principle of the flux switching permanentmagnet motor formed by the movers 24, 26 and the stators 50 in thestator beam 18. The stator rod 50 comprises stator teeth 52 which arespaced apart by teeth gaps 53. The pitch d of the stator teeth 52 isidentical throughout the length of the stator rod 50. The stator in thestator beam 18 in a longer vertical shaft 12 can be comprised of onesingle stator rod 50 with a corresponding length or by several statorrods 50 located one above each other, according to the required shaftlength. In the connecting areas of stator rods located above each otherthe pitch d has to be maintained.

The mover 24, 26 comprises on each counter-face 54 a succession of twomover irons 70, 72 between which one thin magnet 71 is located. Thispackage of mover irons 70, 72 and magnet 71 is followed by two windings74, 76 which are controlled as to produce a magnetic field with oppositedirection. This succession 70, 71, 72, 74, 76 of mover irons, permanentmagnets and windings is repeated according to the length of the mover.The movement of the mover 24, 26 with respect to the stator rod isaccomplished by controlling the both windings 74, 76 to switch the fluxdirection to the opposite so that with each switching, the mover 24, 26moves half of the pitch d of the stator teeth 52. Thus, the mover 24, 26can be controlled to move according to the arrows in upwards ordownwards direction with respect to the stator rod 50.

FIG. 5 shows an elevator 100 having two elevator shafts 102, 104 whichare connected by an upper horizontal passage 106 at the top end of bothshafts 102, 104 as well as a lower horizontal passage 108 at the bottomend of both elevator shafts 102, 104. Thus, the both elevator shafts102, 104 with the upper and lower horizontal passage 106, 108 form aclosed loop whereby the movement of the elevator cars 16 a-16 d is onlyallowed in one direction according to the arrows shown in the figure. Bythis measure it is ensured that cars run only in one direction in eachof the shafts which lead to a higher transport capacity and to an easiercontrol of the cars in the shaft.

In both elevator shafts 102, 104, vertical stator beams 18, 114 e.g.according to one of the previous embodiments, or according to FIGS. 6and 7 are located which co-act with movers 24, 26 located at theelevator cars 16 a-16 d. Each shaft 102, 104 may comprise preferablytwo, three or four parallel stator beams 18, 114. The figure showslanding doors 110 located in the first elevator shaft 102 as well as inthe second elevator shaft 104. The cars 16 a-16 d are horizontally movedin the horizontal passages 106, 108 in a not specified manner byhorizontal moving mechanisms, e.g. those shown in connection with FIGS.8 and 9.

Both elevator shafts are cut out along the cutting line 112 for clarityreasons, as normally this concept is preferably designed for high-riseelevators having 20 floors or more. Accordingly, the two shafts 102, 104are able to accommodate a much larger number of elevator cars than thefour cars 16 a-16 d shown in the figure. Each car 16 a-16 d is able tomove largely independent of the others within the two shafts 102, 104except the fact that collisions between cars have to be avoided. By thefact that in the first elevator shaft 102 the elevator cars 16 a-16 donly drive downwards and in the second elevator shaft 104 only driveupwards, the probability of mutual affection is decreased. Furthermore,by this circular moving scheme, the transport capacity of both shafts isdrastically increased on one hand because now the two elevator shaftsmay comprise much more elevator cars than in conventional systems and onthe other hand, because in each elevator shaft, all elevator cars onlymove in the same direction, avoiding counter-movements of cars whichreduce an economic shaft use and necessitate extensive anti-collisioncontrol.

FIG. 6 shows a vertical stator beam 114 which may be used in connectionwith the elevator 100 shown in FIG. 5 and with the elevator 200 shown inFIG. 8.

The vertical stator beam 114 comprises five side faces 116, 118, 120,122, 124. The first side face 116 directed to the elevator car 16 a-16 das well as the fourth and fifth side face 122, 124 directed to the shaftwall 22 are guide faces co-acting with guide rollers of a car guide 140as shown in FIG. 7. The second side face 118 and the third side face 120of the vertical stator beam 114 comprise stator rods 50 with statorteeth 52 which co-act with permanent magnets and windings 70, 71, 72,74, 76 located in the counter-faces 54 of a mover 126 of the elevatorcar 16 a-16 d. The mover 126 is embodied as a U-profile which is mountedwith a mounting element 128 to the elevator car 16 a-16 d. The mountingelement may also be a screw or a bolt or the like such that theU-profile 126 is directly mounted to the car 16 a-16 d, eventually witha dampening layer in-between. As the two stator rods 50 on the secondand third side faces 118, 120 of the vertical stator beam 114 areopposed to each other, the horizontal forces between the stators 50 ofthe vertical stator beam 114 and the components 70, 71, 72, 74, 76 ofthe mover 126 are compensated. On the other hand, the shaft wall 22comprises a bus bar 130 with four vertically running connector rails 132from which three connector rails 132 are the three phases of an AC mainsnetwork and one of the vertical connector rails 132 is a controlconnector connecting the elevator car with the elevator control. Theelevator car comprises a contactor 134 which is pressed via a telescopicspring support 136 against the elevator car 16 a-16 d. Via thiscontactor 134, the elevator car 16 a-16 d is provided with electricpower for the operation of the mover 126 as well as for all further carcomponents needing electric power, as e.g. doors, I/O, lighting etc.

The vertical stator beam 114 of FIG. 6 has the advantage that it doesnot only support the stators 50 of the electric motor 14 of the elevatorbut it also provides the guide faces 116, 122, 124 to guide the car inthe shaft 12, 102, 104 in connection with a car guide 32, 34, 140. Thecar guide 140 comprises three guide rollers 142, 144, 146 which arerunning on the three guide faces 116, 122, 124 of the vertical statorbeam 114. The second and third guide roller 144, 146 located adjacentthe shaft wall 22 are supported on pivot arms 148 which are pivotallyhinged on a pivoting mechanism 150 as to be moved away from thecorresponding guide surfaces 122, 124 of the vertical stator beam 114.Via this means, the vertical stator beams 114 can be released from thecontact with the car guides 32, 34 by moving the car horizontally awayfrom the shaft wall 22. As also the mover 126 is according to FIG. 6 aU-profile open to the shaft wall 22, also the mover 126 can be movedaway from the vertical stator beam 114 in a horizontal direction awayfrom the elevator shaft wall 22. Thus, the elevator cars 16 a-16 d canbe released from the corresponding vertical stator beams 114 when movedwith the horizontal moving mechanism in the upper and lower horizontalpassage 106, 108 of FIG. 5, e.g. as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of an elevator 200 whereby the verticalstator beams 114 correspond to the stator beams shown in FIGS. 6 and 7and the car guides 140 of the cars 16 a-16 d of FIG. 8 (not shown inFIG. 8) correspond preferably to the car guides 140 shown in FIG. 7. Theelevator 200 of FIG. 8 comprises two elevator shafts 202, 204 which arepreferably no longer separated by shaft walls. Instead, at each elevatorfloor, horizontal guide tracks (see also FIG. 9) 206 are extendinghorizontally along horizontal passages 208 located between the twoelevator shafts 202, 204 whereby the term “elevator shaft” in thisconnection designates the vertical moving paths of the elevator cars 16a-16 d in this elevator 200. The two remaining shaft walls 22 which areopposite to the horizontal passages 208 do not only comprise thevertical stator beams 114 but also the vertical bus bars 130 of FIG. 6which are not shown for clarity reasons, as FIG. 8 focuses on thehorizontal moving mechanism 205. The horizontal moving mechanism 205comprises the horizontal guide tracks 206 on each elevator floor and ahorizontal moving means 210 located on top of each elevator car 16 a-16d. The horizontal moving means 210 of the elevator car comprises supportrollers 212 which can be moved between a retracted position and anoperational position wherein the support rollers 212 run on thehorizontal guide tracks 206.

The moving pattern of the elevator cars in the elevator car 200corresponds to that of FIG. 5 which means that in the first elevatorshaft 202, the elevators all move in the same direction, i.e. upwards,whereas in the second elevator shaft 204 all elevator cars 16 a-16 dmove downwards. Therefore, also in this elevator 200, a kind of circularmovement is achieved whereby the circular movement can be shortened asthe elevator cars can travel from one elevator shaft 202, 204 into theother at each elevator floor via the horizontal moving mechanism 205comprising the horizontal guide tracks 206 and the horizontal movingmeans 210 of the elevator car.

The function of the horizontal moving mechanism 205 based on theinteraction between the horizontal guide tracks 206 and the horizontalmoving means 210 of the elevator car 16 a-16 d is described in moredetail with respect to FIG. 9. The elevator car 16 a-16 d comprises acar control 214 having a wireless transmission means 216 for wirelesscommunication with the elevator control. Furthermore, the elevator car16 a-16 d comprises a power source 218, preferably an accumulator, whichfeeds the movers 24, 26; 126 of the elevator car 16, 16 a-16 d as wellas all other electrical components connected to the elevator car. Thehorizontal moving means 210 comprises of four roller arrangements 220.Each roller arrangement 220 comprises a mounting base 222 on which asupport arm 224 is pivotally hinged. The support arm 224 can be movedbetween a retracted position (shown on the left side of the figure) andan operational position (shown on the right side) in which the supportroller 212 runs on top of the horizontal guide track 206. Connected withthe support arm 224 is a drive member 226 on which the support roller issupported. The drive member comprises an electric motor which isconfigured to rotate the support roller 212 on the horizontal guidetrack 206. It is self-evident that any operation of the pivot mechanismin the mounting base 222 can be prohibited when the support roller iscurrently positioned in the retracted position shown on the left side aswell as in the operational position of the support roller 212 on thehorizontal guide track 206. Therefore a locking mechanism (not shown) ispreferably provided to lock the corresponding positions.

It is further clear for the skilled person that the retracted andoperational position of the support roller 212 is controlled insynchronization with the initiation and releasing of the contact betweenthe movers 126 and the corresponding vertical stator beams 114. Via thisarrangement, it is ensured that the car is always supported in verticaldirection either by the force of the mover 126 on the vertical statorbeam 114 or by the support of the support rollers 212 on the horizontalguide tracks 206.

It is not shown in the figures but is evident for the skilled personthat the elevator car has a gripping device which grips the guide facesof guide rails or of the vertical stator beams 114 when the power of thepower source 218 (and eventually in case of a power failure of themains) goes off thus ensuring that the car cannot fall downwards whenthe movers are not energized any longer. When a failure of the powersource should occur while the car is supported via the support rollers212 on the horizontal guide tracks 206, nothing can happen as theoperation position of the support rollers 212 on the horizontal guidetracks 206 is locked even in case of power off.

Accordingly, also in this new multi-shaft multi-car arrangement of theinvention, the safety of the elevator cars 16 a-16 d is always ensuredindependent whether the car is currently supported by the movers 126 andthe vertical stator beams 114 or by the support rollers 212 on thehorizontal guide tracks 206.

The invention can be carried out within the scope of the appended patentclaims. Thus, the above-mentioned embodiments should not be understoodas delimiting the invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

-   10 elevator-   12 elevator shaft-   14 elevator motor-   16 elevator car-   18 stator beam-   20 fastening elements-   22 shaft wall/shaft side-   24 lower mover-   26 upper mover-   28 first guide rail-   30 second guide rail-   32 first car guide-   34 second car guide-   40 support structure-   42 first side face-   44 second side face-   46 third side face-   48 fourth side face-   50 stator/stator rod-   52 stator teeth-   53 teeth gaps-   54 counter face of mover-   56 first arm of C-profile mover-   58 second arm of C-profile mover-   60 third arm of C-profile mover-   62 fourth arm of C-profile mover-   70 first mover iron-   71 permanent magnet-   72 second mover iron-   74 first winding-   76 second winding-   100 elevator (second embodiment)-   102 first elevator shaft-   104 second elevator shaft-   106 upper horizontal passage-   108 lower horizontal passage-   110 landing door-   114 stator beam (second embodiment)-   116 first side face (first guide face)-   118 second side face-   120 third side face-   122 fourth side face (second guide face)-   124 fifth side face (third guide face)-   126 mover (second embodiment)-   128 mounting element-   130 bus bar-   132 connector rails-   134 contactor-   136 spring support-   140 car guide (second embodiment)-   142 first guide roller, at the car side-   144 second guide roller, at the shaft wall side-   146 third guide roller, at the shaft wall side-   148 pivot arm-   150 pivoting mechanism-   200 elevator (third embodiment)-   202 first elevator shaft-   204 second elevator shaft-   205 horizontal moving mechanism-   206 horizontal guide track-   208 horizontal passage-   210 horizontal moving means mounted to the elevator car-   212 support roller-   214 car control-   216 wireless transmission means-   218 power supply-   220 roller arrangement-   222 mounting base-   224 support arm-   226 drive member

1. Electric linear motor comprising: at least one linear stator designed to be located in a fixed correlation to an environment; at least one mover designed for connection with an element to be moved and co-acting to move along the stator; and a stator beam supporting said at least one stator, the stator beam having at least one side face carrying ferromagnetic poles of said stator spaced apart by a pitch (d), wherein the mover comprises at least one counter-face facing said side face(s) of the stator beam, in which counter-face electro-magnetic components of the mover are arranged to co-act with the ferromagnetic poles of the stator beam, the stator and the mover form a guide for the travel of the element to be moved along the stator beam, and the ferromagnetic stator poles of the stator beam and the electro-magnetic components of the mover form a magnetic bearing for the guide and suspension of the element.
 2. Electric linear motor according to claim 1, wherein the stator beam comprises a support structure for at least two stators and at least one fastening element to fix the support structure to the environment.
 3. Electric linear motor according to claim 1, wherein the elevator motor is a flux-switching permanent magnet motor (FSPM).
 4. Electric linear motor according to claim 1, wherein the stator beam has at least two side faces with stator poles having the same pitch (d) and wherein the position of the stator poles of both side faces in the length direction of the stator is preferably mutually offset.
 5. Electric linear motor according to claim 1, wherein the stator beam has a polygonal cross section and has several side faces carrying ferromagnetic poles, which side faces are connected via corners.
 6. Electric linear motor according to claim 5, wherein the cross section of the stator beam is rectangular.
 7. Electric linear motor according to claim 4, wherein the stator beam has four side faces with stator poles having the same pitch (d) and the pitch of the opposite side faces is identical whereas the pitch of the side faces extending in right angles is offset in length direction of the stator, preferably by a half pitch.
 8. Electric linear motor according to claim 1, wherein the mover has C-profile or U-Profile surrounding the stator beam.
 9. Electric linear motor according to claim 8, wherein whereby the mover has four counter-faces arranged in a rectangular configuration and facing the four side faces of the stator beam, wherein each of the counter-faces comprises the electro-magnetic components of the mover and the opening in the C-profile is configured to accommodate a fastening element of the stator beam.
 10. Electric linear motor according to claim 1, wherein the mover is configured have one mounting side for a rucksack-suspension of the element.
 11. Electric linear motor according to claim 1, wherein the mover or the element to be moved has a power source, which is configured as back-up power source for the mover.
 12. Electric linear motor according to claim 1, being configured to be installed in a high rise elevator with a vertical length of more than 50 m.
 13. Electric linear motor according to claim 1, wherein at least two parallel stator beams are located in the environment, each of which guiding at least one mover, whereby at least two movers located parallel to each other are configured to be commonly connected to the element to be moved, each of the movers co-acting with one of the stator beams, respectively.
 14. Electric linear motor according claim 1, wherein the ferromagnetic poles are teeth provided on a side face of a ferromagnetic stator rod, which teeth which are spaced apart by teeth gaps.
 15. Electric linear motor according to claim 1, wherein the stator(s) does not have any permanent magnets and as well as no windings either.
 16. Electric linear motor according to claim 2, wherein the elevator motor is a flux-switching permanent magnet motor (FSPM).
 17. Electric linear motor according to claim 2, wherein the stator beam has at least two side faces with stator poles having the same pitch (d) and wherein the position of the stator poles of both side faces in the length direction of the stator is preferably mutually offset.
 18. Electric linear motor according to claim 3, wherein the stator beam has at least two side faces with stator poles having the same pitch (d) and wherein the position of the stator poles of both side faces in the length direction of the stator is preferably mutually offset.
 19. Electric linear motor according to claim 2, wherein the stator beam has a polygonal cross section and has several side faces carrying ferromagnetic poles, which side faces are connected via corners.
 20. Electric linear motor according to claim 3, wherein the stator beam has a polygonal cross section and has several side faces carrying ferromagnetic poles, which side faces are connected via corners. 